Every day for a year, starting on my 29th birthday, I did one thing I'd never done before.
Now, whenever the fancy strikes, for the rest of my life, I will be doing New Things, Things I'm Bad At, and Things That Seem Ridiculous.

Friday, May 25, 2012

I often write/talk/blog/post/tweet about my love for museums, especially the amazing museums that are right in my NYC backyard (one even closer than others). By the end of this phase of my New Things journey, I want to hit at least 10 new museums. And I will, but there's no reason I can't enjoy some new features of the ones I've already been to. For that reason, and also because I was hungry, I went on a mini museum food tour. Cousin Cat has the inside track on tons of great NYC restaurants, including Untitled at The Whitney and The Modern at MoMA, both of which we hit in one day. Neither meal had much to do with fine art, which is perfectly acceptable. The incredible food speaks for itself, and too many reminders that we're actually in a museum would make the place seem thematic or cheesy. A few days after the Whitney/MoMA double whammy, Husband and I hit the Met Museum for a members-only showing of the Steins Collection, after which we hit the Petire Court cafe for breakfast with a view of Central Park to the west and the skylit entrance to the American Wing to the east. Out of all of these places, The Met was the only place we saw any art, which only means I have a reason to go back to the Whitney and the Moma! For the purposes of this blog, I will likely be wearing roller skates or riding a horse. So stay tuned.

Friday, May 18, 2012

In what has been by far my girliest new thing (definitely in this round, but not necessarily including the original project), the fabulous Cat and I went to a Trish McEvoy makeup event at Bloomingdale's. First we sat through a charming mini-lecture, in which Trish herself demonstrated some little-known techniques (the "triangle of light" blew my mind) with the help of two assistants. Apparently I've been doing my makeup wrong all my life, but that stopped here! After the demo, the group was escorted into Trish's in-store studio, where a trained TM makeup goddess applied product to half the client's face, while the client had to try to re-create the look on the other half. Cat and I were sharing a makeup goddess, so makeup goddess couldn't pay as much attention to us individually. I think I did okay. I mean, I'm no makeup guru, and yeah, I have been using the same techniques since 7th grade (luckily the same cannot be said for my once sky-high bangs). But as a novice, using high-end products and tools for the first time, I think I did okay!

Friday, May 11, 2012

I can now officially say that I have experienced the first-class cabin on the Concorde, and except for the thing where it never left the ground and I saved $8,000, I'm pretty sure it was an authentic experience. Along with husband and my in-laws, I went to the Intrepid Museum. Even the pre-space shuttle Intrepid (the Enterprise arrives later this summer) is well worth the trip. The history of the place is pretty fantastic, and who doesn't love a bunch of old-timey planes? And yes, I recommend the Concorde tour, which includes seats in the first-class cabin, a frightening-for-tall people trip into the cockpit and a glimpse of a typical menu, which puts even some 4-star Manhattan restaurants to shame. After that it was back to the flight deck to (distantly) inspect some well-preserved planes dating as far back as the 19teens, and inside the carrier for some interactive cool nerdy science exhibits.Then we donned our jetpacks and zoomed over Manhattan, because there really is no other way to leave an aircraft carrier.

Friday, May 4, 2012

If Broadway is my favorite cultural thing about New York, museums are a close second, if not tied for first. I've hit many of them here, but not nearly enough of them. Last Sunday, husband and I went to the Museum of Art and Design. Located conveniently and inconspicuously at Columbus Circle, it's 5ish floors of modern design, each floor with a different theme. We started out on Necklace Floor, where we caught a glimpse of jewelry made out of oddities like gun triggers, safety pins, ceramic and pig intestine. From there we saw the Dirt floor, with a ballroom made of dust, a "dirts of New York" mosaic and a dude made of mud; Glass floor with innovative blown designs including a collection of wine glasses that each had the ashes of a burned book in the stem; and a floor whose theme I can't remember but which was decorated with flocks of creepily realistic birds among other things. I highly recommend this quiet, uncrowded little oasis (though the "uncrowded" part is a little bittersweet. Fill this awesome place up, people!) as a MoMA companion, or perhaps as an alternative on crazy days. Go MAD!